The present invention refers to an anti-release protective helmet, in particular for sporting use.
The object of the present invention is intended to be used in the field of sports in which athletes and/or people practising a particular activity and/or sport, like for example cycling, skating, skiing, motorcycling, horse riding and/or others, wear helmets and/or similar protective headgear for protecting themselves in the case of possible falling and/or accidents.
The object of the present invention is particularly used also in fields other than sports, like for example at work in which it is worth mentioning construction or any other field in which, for safety reasons, it is compulsory or recommended to be provided with proper helmets or similar protective headgear.
As known, there are many different types of sports helmets the shapes and structural characteristics of which vary according to the sport they are intended for.
Despite the numerous differences between the various known helmets for sports use, sport helmets currently present on the market are provided with a protective or shell structure having a substantially arched or wrap-around shape, which is intended to circumscribe most of the head of the user.
The protective structure of such helmets has a concave housing space, which is generally padded, so as to receive the head of the user in engagement, and an external surface, which is usually covered with one or more layers of resistant materials, that is intended to hit and bump possible bodies or objects during falls and/or accidents of the users.
The aforementioned helmets are moreover provided with suitable fixing means, like for example a chinstrap and/or similar adjustable straps, which are associated with the protective structure so as to be blocked at the head of the users according to a predetermined position.
Such helmets can also be provided with one or more accessory elements that can be engaged with the protective structure so as to carry out predetermined functions that can, on one hand, make it more practical and comfortable and, on the other hand, help protect the user from potential dangerous situations.
As it can be understood from the following description, the helmet of the present invention is called anti-release because, in addition to the usual capability of protecting the user from bangs or impact, it also intends to offer comfort, fitting simplicity and stability during use of the helmet.
Of course, in order to reach such purposes the helmet must adhere in an optimal manner to the head of the user.
In the past the most common solution consisted in making helmets having different sizes available on the market.
However, such a solution offers a solution that is not optimal in view of the shape of the head of the user or, more in detail, with reference to the profile of the occipital, or nuchal area, of the human cranium.
Indeed, such an occipital or nuchal portion has a particular protuberance that the helmet, in order for it to be worn correctly, must first “pass over” so as to be correctly arranged in the position of use.
In known helmets without adjustment mechanisms it is clear that if a helmet has a size such as to pass over such a protuberance, once this protuberance has been passed over, the helmet cannot adhere to the nuchal area correctly.
On the contrary, the optimal adherence of the nuchal area would make the helmet difficult to fit past this occipital protuberance.
In order to solve such a drawback, or rather in order to provide easy fitting and optimal adherence to the nuchal area, helmets are known today, which are provided with a manual adjustment that provides for the nuchal portion of the helmet to be loosened or tightened by acting on a command.
In such a way, by keeping the helmet loosened it is possible to wear it easily and, once it is worn, it is possible to tighten it on the nape of the user until it adheres correctly.
The drawback of such a solution, in addition to the complexity of the helmet that often causes such a mechanism to break, is the fact that the user is forced to, in any case, act manually on the helmet making it slower to fit it.
Examples of such a type of helmet are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,226,802, 6,401,261 and in US2004255370 in which these helmets comprise a nape-rest element that is movable between a fitting position, in which it is in substantial contact with the inner rear wall of the helmet to allow the occipital protuberance of the cranium to be passed over, and a use position in which it is separated from said inner rear wall of the helmet and is in substantial contact with the nuchal area of the user.
Means for forcing such a nape-rest element in the position of use so as to increase the safety of the user are furthermore provided.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,802 comprises a spring element for forcing the nape-rest element into said use position.
However, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,802, like also in U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,261 and in US2004255370 the passing from the fitting position to the use position does not occur spontaneously but by means of tools that are suitable for locking the nape-rest element in the fitting position.
In other words also in the helmets described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,226,802, 6,401,261 and in US2004255370 after fitting the user is forced to act manually on the helmet so as to free the nape-rest element or for adjusting the contact with the head of the user.